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Macedonian Army
The Macedonian army consists of a few professinal regiments which are standing at all times. These regiments are complemented by auxiliary or mercenary forces. The professional armies are funded by the kings treasury, which includes their equipment and pay. Some of them will later replace their equipment with better ones they purchase themselves. The auxiliary forces get their own equipment, either by buying or by looting the enemy camps. Professional Army Infantry The phalangites number roughly 21,000 in size. They are relatively cheap to maintain due to their inexpensive and light equipment. They form the backbone of the army, even though all of them rarely ever march out on the same campaign. Alexander the Great took with him roughly 9,000 phalangites on his march into Persia. The Phalangites are divided into 14 táxeis made up of roughly 1,500 men each and then further divided into 6 syntagmas made up of 256 men, which was a fighting unit. Each táxeis is led by a taxiárches. The professinal phalangites are sometimes called pezhetairoi to sort them out from the auxiliary phalangites. The term means "Foot companion". The hypaspistai are the elite soldiers in the Macedonian army. They are a few handpicked elite, numbering 3,000 men. Their equipment varies but they are skilled in both swordplay and fighting in the phalanx formation. They are made up of three táxeis, each led by a chilíarchos. One of the hypaspistai táxeis is the agema or royal guard. These also have ceremonial duties and sometimes act as the kings personal guard. Cavalry The hetairoi are currently the only professional cavalry fighting under the Macedonian flag. They number roughly 3,600 men drawn from the Macedonian nobility and trained from birth. They are, for the time, heavily armoured with helmet, cuirass and greaves. Sometimes their horses are also armored, but the Macedonian state does not provide for this. Historically, the hetairoi were divided into one single hipparchía (regiment) but after Philotas, the hípparchos of the Hetairoi, was accused of betrayal Alexander the Great restructured the companions. Currently there are four regiments of 900 men, divided into four ílai (squadrons) of 225 men each. One of these ílai is the Hetairoi Agema, the royal squadron which the king leads into battle. Auxiliary Forces Infantry A few more thousand phalangites can be drawn from the Macedonian middle class. These are not as well armoured and have not gone through the same rigorous training as the professional ones. They provide for their own weapons and armor and their pay is the loot. Usually, all they wear is a helmet and a small shield for protection. Their main weapon, the sarissa is provided for them but their sword, usually a kopis or xiphos is not. These men are for obvious reasons not as reliable as the professional and are never given a place of importance in battle. Hoplites drawn from the cities in the Boetian League provide good and reliable heavy infantry. These are citizen soldiers and provided their own equipment, often drawn from upper or middle classes. Their equipment was either a bronze cuirass or lighter linen armor protecting their torso. The open faced helmet had replaced the closed faced corinthian helmet as standard equipment for hoplites. They wear at least one greave and sometimes bracers. They got their name from their shields, which were nicknamed hoplons (meaning "equipment"). The hoplites fight either with their 2 meter long spears or their short swords. They are never placed in the center but can be found guarding the flanks. Peltastai make up a mobile offensive arm of the macedonian infantry. They are well armed with a longsword and javelins but lack sufficent armor. Their shield, the pelte, is of wicker and enforced with oak and covered in the skin of an animal. Apart from that, their only armor would be the helmet altough some peltasts would later provide better protection for themselves. The peltasts are useful troops as they are skilled both in swordplay and fighting with their throwing spears in a stabbing manner but they are to lightly armoured to be given a place of importance in the battle line. They can, however, be relied upon to fight on the flanks and exploit gaps in the enemy line. Akontistai are light infantry whose main weapon is the javelin, or throwing spear. These men, unlike the peltasts, would not engage in close combat. Their only armor is a shield, sometimes the pelte but they are not armed with long swords or helmets. They throw their javelins at the enemy from afar. Toxotai is the name given to the greek archers. These men are inferior to eastern and steppe archers and did not use composite bows. However, the greek bows would not be rendered useless in wet weather, unlike the eastern ones. These men fire from the enemy from afar and sometimes join the melee with their bows to fire from a few feet away. They are unarmoured and their only other weapon is a sword. Cavalry Thessalian cavalry are more or less equal to the Companions in skill but perhaps not as disciplined. These men are often be placed on the left flank since the right flank is a place of honor, reserved for the companions. The Thessalians are no doubt great horsemen and perhaps some of the best riders in the western world, along with the companions. They are divided into ílai, as the companions, of 225 men. Their numbers, in full, are around 3,000 - 4,000. Roughly 1,800 men crossed over the Bosphorus with Alexander. Heavy noble cavalry from the Boetial League. Heavily armoured and armed with xystons and kopis swords. Divided into ílai squadrons. Not as disciplined or as well trained as either the Thessalians or the Companions. Prodromoi light cavalry, roughly 10 ílai of which 6 are Macedonian. The rest are thracian or paionians. They are equipped in light armor, sometimes a helmet and sometimes linen cuirass. They are armed with a lance and short sword. Tactics Macedonian Phalanx Unlike the greek phalanx, the macedonian phalanx is a term that applies all the soldiers in the army. The greek phalax refers specifically to the hoplites making up the phalanx, where as the macedonian phalanx refers to the phalangites, cavalry and light infantry who make up the entire formation. The traditional macedonian phalanx had the phalangites, roughly 10,000 - 20,000 men strong, in the center. On the flanks they would be protected by hoplites, peltasts, akontistai and any other infantry. Beyond that, the cavalry was stationed. The phalangites were often the only defensive arm of the army, in contrast to how the greek used the hoplites. The phalangites were meant to pin the enemy and keep them occupied while the heavy cavalry and other mobile forces would attack the enemy from other points. Thus it is a common misconception that the Macedonian phalanx is highly immobile and inflexible. It wasn't, it was highly mobile and flexible. There were troops suited to any situation.